


Promises

by FictionPenned



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Academy Era, Alex asked why we even have this lever, First Kiss, Other, ThoscheiLockdown2020, ThoscheiTreatLockdown2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23257246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionPenned/pseuds/FictionPenned
Summary: A sigh drifts past Koschei’s parted lips as he turns his face up towards the familiar warmth of the sky. “We have a duty to our people, Thete.”Theta Sigma’s face breaks into a grin. “Forget about duty. We could see the universe together, you and me. Think about all the places that have never been explored, all the people we’ve never met, all the things we’ve never done. We could do them all once we’re out of here. We could interfere.” His voice lingers on the last word with uncontrollable excitement. It’s the first thing that Time Lords are expressly forbidden to do, and as a direct consequence, it is the one thing that Theta Sigma wants more than anything else in the world.Response to the prompt "First Kiss" for the Thoschei Lockdown exchange.
Relationships: The Doctor | Theta Sigma/The Master | Koschei (Doctor Who: Academy Era), The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 45
Collections: Thoschei Lockdown The First 2020





	Promises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Adeline_Hatter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adeline_Hatter/gifts).



The sky above the two youths blazes orange and sun-burnt red fields stretch across gently rolling hills. In the distance, the Citadel peeks above the horizon, but neither of the young Time Lords care to look at it for very long. After all, this is intended to be a brief escape from the intense pressures of the city and the Academy therein. Out here in the middle of nowhere, they can take a moment to breathe and appreciate the company of friends, and though they never seem to last long enough, they treasure these stolen days, and the fewer reminders of the strict society to which they must inevitably return, the better. 

Theta Sigma -- the taller of the two, all long limbs at awkward angles and blonde hair and dusted freckles -- falls back into the grass with a world-weary sigh. “Do you ever think about running away?” 

Theta Sigma feels like he already knows the answer, but asking questions is a more polite way to thrust one’s own burdens onto a friend’s shoulders than spilling one’s heart out onto the floor without warning. He’s been told off for enough discourteous actions in recent years -- so much so that he’s been repeatedly rejected and shoved aside by teachers and other authority figures -- and though he’s a slow learner, he’s slowly come around to behaving with just enough dignity that he won’t have to fear losing the respect of his friends, too. 

Koschei remains sitting, casting a dark, skeptical eye in Theta Sigma’s direction. “No.” The answer is brusque and impersonal, and its true intentions lurk behind an impenetrable wall. 

Theta Sigma twists sideways, propping an elbow in the dirt and his chin on his fist so that he might be able to see his friend better. “Why not? There are plenty of renegades out there, roaming the stars with stolen ships, going wherever they like, doing whatever they want…” The thought trails off as his bright eyes glaze over. Unlike Koschei, Theta Sigma has always struggled at the Academy. He fails every single exam that gets set before him, can’t seem to wrestle his attention towards whatever tasks he’s been set, gets treated like a doomed experiment. There are no dreams waiting for him here on Gallifrey, but the universe offers an escape.    
  
As a child, he gazed upon the untempered schism and ran away.    
  
His feet still itch to flee, but he has no means of travel. Not yet. It’s another hundred years before they have a chance to earn that privilege. A hundred years of agony. A hundred years of failing over and over again until he scrapes through by the skin of his teeth. It is hardly a fate worth looking forward to.    
  
A sigh drifts past Koschei’s parted lips as he turns his face up towards the familiar warmth of the sky. “We have a duty to our people, Thete.”    
  
Theta Sigma’s face breaks into a grin. “Forget about duty. We could see the universe together, you and me. Think about all the places that have never been explored, all the people we’ve never met, all the things we’ve never done. We could do them all once we’re out of here. We could  _ interfere _ .” His voice lingers on the last word with uncontrollable excitement. It’s the first thing that Time Lords are expressly forbidden to do, and as a direct consequence, it is the one thing that Theta Sigma wants more than anything else in the world.    
  
Interference stirs Koschei’s interest, briefly drowning out the drums that haunt his ears. “Maybe someday.”    
  
It’s a noncommittal answer, however, Theta Sigma latches onto it with unbridled glee, twin hearts racing with joy. He wants nothing more than to travel the universe with the one person that he likes and admires more than anyone else on Gallifrey. “Is that a promise?”   
  
Hesitation braces Koschei’s tongue between his teeth for an agonizing minute, caught in a struggle between what he ought to say and what he wants to say. Eventually, he offers up a simple, “Yes.”    
  
Theta Sigma scrambles onto his knees with great awkwardness and unmatched speed, and without thinking, he takes his friend’s face in his hands and kisses him to seal the promise. To his great delight, when the initial shock of the moment passes, Koschei returns it. The sun blazes and the wind whispers through the grass and two young people with unknown futures exchange the promise of the present.    
  
When they finally part, Theta Sigma can’t help but admit, “I’ve wanted to do that for a while.”   
  
Koschei’s eyebrows raise, “I know.”    
  
“You did?” Surprise and disappointment mix and mingle in the thought. He thought that he was rather subtle about the whole thing, but perhaps his gauge was a bit off. It wouldn’t be the first time.    
  
“Thete,  _ everybody _ knows.”   
  
Slight panic edges into Theta Sigma’s voice.“They’re not all going to know about this, too, are they?”    
  
“Only if you tell them,” Koschei comments with dry amusement.    
  
“I won’t.” 

When Theta Sigma speaks those words, he wholeheartedly intends for them to be true, but it is only mere hours before he spills the story to another friend, and within a day, their entire cohort knows. The news surprises none of them, and the days trudge on as though nothing happened. Something important, however, _has_ changed.    
  
For the first time in recent memory, Theta Sigma holds two things: a plan for the future and a beautiful fragment of hope. 


End file.
